CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Freshman Haley Skarupa's overtime goal four minutes into sudden death overtime propelled the #3 women's hockey team to a dramatic 2-1 win over Maine in the Hockey East Quarterfinals on Friday night.
Corinne Boyles made 17 saves including a breakaway attempt in the opening minutes of overtime to improve to 21-3-1 this season. Brittany Ott stopped a career high 72 shots to drop to 5-16-3.
BC will advance to the semifinal round next Saturday at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center.
The teams battled to a scoreless deadlock through 20 minutes with the Eagles holding a 17-7 edge in shots.
Maine was able to tally the all-important first goal as Jennifer More slammed home a rebound off a shot from Shawna Lesperance just 37 seconds into the second period. The Eagles continued their assault on the Black Bears goal but Ott continued to frustrate BC - turning aside all 20 shots she faced in the period.
The Eagles put 35 more shots on goal in the third period and were finally rewarded when Melissa Bizzari (17th) buried a loose puck with just over 10 minutes to play to tie the game at one. Ott held strong for the remainder of regulation as the teams headed to sudden death overtime.
Boyles made a key save at the beginning of the overtime period and the Eagles were able to withstand a cross checking minor to Lexi Bender at the 1:42 mark. Alex Carpenter fed a streaking Skarupa (23rd) through the neutral zone and the freshman's wrister trickled underneath Ott's arm to give the Eagles a 2-1 win.
Team Records: Maine 5-24-4; Boston College 26-5-3
Game Notes: BC's last postseason overtime win came against Providence in the 2011 Hockey East semifinals ... Bizzari has five goals and four assists in her last seven games ... The Eagles swept the season series versus Maine, 4-0 ... Skarupa had a team high 16 shots on goal ... the Black Bears blocked 25 BC shots ... BC improves to 3-0-3 in overtime this season ... power plays: BC 0-2, Maine 0-2 ... final shots on goal: BC 74, Maine 18.